CONCEPT EN: Spotlight on Languages

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ESCOLA CONCEPT BRAZIL

ON DEVELOPING LANGUAGES

ON DEVELOPING MINDS

HOW TO DEVELOP M A T H E M A T IC A L

M IN D S E T :

AN APPROACH TO LEARNING MATH BEYOND PHYSICAL SPACES

Mathematical Mindset: How the learning of Math skills can be creative and purposeful Maths can easily be perceived as the subject where an answer is either right or wrong, as striving for accuracy is understood as the single pathway to the final result of an equation or a simple calculation. But what if I told you that Mathematics is all about creativity? What if we started to perceive Maths as the field of endless possibilities?

At Escola Concept, our studies about Mathematics are inspired by the work of Jo Boaler, a British Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.

She advocates for a reform in the way Mathematics is taught and believes in an equitable approach. She believes there is no such thing as a "maths gifted" person, but that everyone is able to be highly successful in Maths, due to brain plasticity, and capable of growth if we foster a Growth Mindset. (It must be noted that her work is deeply connected to the studies of the American psychologist and researcher Carol Dweck).

But, how can we develop deep understanding in Mathematics through this approach? And what does it mean to approach Mathematics in a creative way?

According to Jo Boaler, it is important to shift the studies of Maths away from formulas and single ways to reach an answer and towards an understanding of how intuition, freedom of thought, visual mathematics, collaboration and depth (over speed) can lead to meaningful and contextualized understandings.

Here we share some examples of how Escola Concept has made the studies a creative pathway to a Mathematical Mindset of joy, creativity and deep learning.

Gamification or learning by playing!

Grade 2 RibeirĂŁo Preto

After a phase of exploring their neighborhoods, using location apps and virtual maps, Grade 2 learners from Concept RibeirĂŁo Preto built their own models in a board game.

They also created the rules and challenges for the game and presented them to their peers. With this experience, they expanded their knowledge of geometric shapes such as cubes, rectangular prisms, pyramids, cones, cylinders and spheres, and relating them to objects in the physical world. They also compared research information presented in double entry tables and graphs of single columns or bars, so that they could better understand aspects of their immediate reality.

The kids who harnessed the rain Kindergarten SĂŁo Paulo

Scavenger Hunt Week

Grade 5 SĂŁo Paulo

Among several creative challenges launched during the Scavenger Hunt Week, in May, we asked students to find objects related to mathematics in their home. Grade 5 learners went further and created posters showing what makes them mathematicians on a daily basis! A lesson that was inspired by Jo Boaler, a Stanford University professor.

Inspired by the film/book, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, which is a theme for 2020 at Escola Concept, SĂŁo Paulo kindergarten learners were challenged to investigate the methods to obtain energy and to build a hydroelectric plant at home, with the help of their families. Some of the Mathematical concepts explored in this project involved relating numbers to their respective quantities, as well as identifying event sequencing such as before, after, and during a series of events.

The measure of everything Grade 5 RibeirĂŁo Preto

At home or at school, learning at Escola Concept always connects to real-life situations and seeks to instill the joy of learning. The mission for Grade 5 learners from Concept RibeirĂŁo Preto was to measure and convert heights into meters, centimeters, and millimeters. Their rulers measured all: objects, plants, and even their siblings...

Creating a house map

Through mathematics, Salvador grade 3 learners were able to describe and represent their houses by using thinking maps.

These maps described the movement of people and the position of objects in the space.

By drawing a map of their homes, learners expand the notions of space, footage and scales.

Grade 3 Salvador

Unlocking Children’s Math Potential JO BOALER, PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY CEO: YOUCUBED

There is a huge elephant standing in most math classrooms: it is the idea that only some students can do well in math. Students believe it, parents believe it and teachers believe it. The myth that math is a gift that some students have and some do not is one of the most damaging ideas that pervades education in the United States and that stands in the way of students’ math achievement.

In the last few years scientists’ understanding of ability and learning have changed dramatically. The advent of brain scans and other technological advances have enabled researchers to gain new and important information about learning and ability. The results that are emerging have major importance for all those running schools, teaching mathematics or helping others learn mathematics.

Students’ Ideas About Their Ability Determine Their Learning Pathways and Math Achievement.

In 2006 Carol Dweck published a book summarizing decades of research on “mindset” that quickly became a New York Times best-seller (Dweck, 2006). The book has had more impact on educational practice than any other research volume I know. Through her research Dweck has shown that everyone has a mindset—an idea about ability and potential—and that some people have a “growth mindset” whereas some have a “fixed mindset.” Those with a growth mindset believe that smartness increases with hard work and that everything they learn makes them smarter; those with a fixed mindset believe that some people are smart and some are not.

All Students Can Achieve at High Levels:

Researchers now understand that, with good teaching and the right messages, every child can achieve at the highest levels in math at school. The pervasive idea that some students are “smart” and achieve at higher levels than others because of genetic ability is mistaken. Studies of expert performance show that it comes not from genetics but from hard work and deliberate practice (Ericsson & Pool, 2016).

To read the full article, click here.

ON LITERACY

How to support the literacy process in a conscious, constructive and reflective way, while understanding the development perspective of alphabetic writing. Katherine Stravogiannis, Early Years principal at Escola Concept, answers some of the most common questions raised by families.

In which grade levels does the literacy process happen?

Language is one of the socialization conditions of our existence, a turning point in childhood, enabling Early Childhood Education as a favored environment to promote communicative opportunities. There is a close connection between language and thinking. Learning a language means expanding the possibilities for language use, addressing four basic language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. First of all, we need to think about how learning happens for our learners. Parents of our 5-7-year-old learners may be concerned if they believe this process has been interrupted, and there are many expectations regarding literacy development during this age level.

Overall, the process peaks at this age, but that does not mean it has not started much earlier. It is necessary to understand that the literacy process becomes contextualized before the child sets foot in school, and is exposed to intentional practices. It is also important to understand that even adults are in a constant process of literacy, each time we expand our linguistic repertoire.

Why does the literacy process begin by the recognition of the child's first name? Is there any harm not going through the alphabet by it's order or the "a-e-i-o-u"?

It is not that the literacy process begins with a child recognizing his/her proper name. We need to consider that the school's purpose of teaching how to read and write presumes the competent conduct of language practices. These practices should be accompanied by reallife situations, with cultural significance, in which children can observe the social function of reading and writing in their relations with the learning object: the language. For a young child, his or her own name is a solid reference, it is his or her own identity and it makes sense. The educator will look for solid words known by the child, for example, the list of names of the group, as clues to help writing other words.

The problem of literacy that follows a solely phonic framework is that it is static, it does not create a repertoire, nor does it consider language as a communicative system. The learner can quickly master a code, but that does not mean that he or she reflects on the language. The technique (guidebook) leads to repetition, logic leads to reflection. We have to look for the child's logic, and logic is not achieved by writing code alone.

How can parents help in the literacy process?

What are some examples of constructive practices to better stimulate learning?

Parents have a fundamental role in the children's literacy process, as they are also responsible for creating stimuli that will develop new skills within the literacy process, whether be in writing, reading, or speaking. It is possible to create these stimuli with various accessible and simple activities, such as letters and numbers bingos, searching for words in texts, collective and collection texts, reading club, invitations, and tickets. Several types of research in the field of language development show that the literacy process is associated with both, the construction of oral and written speech.

The little ones learn from information coming from different social contexts and from their own actions. An example is when they witness different acts of reading and writing by their family members, such as reading newspapers, making a shopping list, taking notes of a phone call, following a cooking recipe, searching for information in a catalog, writing a letter to a distant relative, reading a storybook, etc.

What should I do when I see my child misspelling a word?

The acquisition of language is not sufficient for the acquisition of operative structures, as it depends on other maturational conditions. With this in mind, speeding up the process or understanding that it will be error-free is not realistic.

Often, mistakes are seen as abhorrent and are not accepted by parents. But mistakes are one of the most essential conditions for children to advance in writing. In this process, the educator does not ignore the mistake but shows the social conventions, in doing so, the educator brings the child to reflect rather than copy a text. The educator will ask the child to read the word once more, then presenting the word written in another context, or other similar words, which can serve as a reference.

We need to remember that simply correcting does not make the student learn, it rather makes him or her reproduce the perception of the adult. Cognitive conflict is fundamental to the progress of alphabetic writing. In addition, the most effective way to perceive the regularity of writing is to have contact with it. Therefore, allow your child to access books.

Will my child confuse English with Portuguese?

What will he or she learn first?

A major conceptual mistake is to consider the reading and writing process of multiple languages separately, as if they were two distinct processes. For instance, some may understand that a child has already gone through the literacy process in English and is now ready to do the same in Portuguese. There are no two distinct literacy paths. The process that respects human logic is that the child understands that the world can be represented through a specific language, this is unique, and it happens only once. The child transfers the knowledge to various contexts. The repertoire is not solely based on one language. The organization and systematization of writing is conceptual knowledge, not just perceptual. For the child, he or she already inhabits a cultural universe of a language and does not think like an adult, in which the understanding is bound to a series of social barriers.

Would you like to learn more?

Click here to watch the full presentation on literacy via YouTube.

FO ELOR LAICOS EHT NO

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IN TIMES OF COVID-19

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accuracy and precision in English and Portuguese and go beyond the application of grammar rules.

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How can I learn more about Brazilian culture and the power of literacy skills in rhyming our current feelings? How can I socialize through a book? How can Fairy Tales, universally known stories, inspire our

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THE COVID-19 IN CHRONICLES AND REPENTE When it comes to the development of projects at Concept, it is of utmost importance to focus on the contextualization of learning through current topics. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the learners' productions have explored the various possibilities within the COVID-19 pandemic thematic. What makes us glad, is the quality of the reflections and connections that our learners have established in a wide variety of genres and productions. The first example is from the Brazilian traditional celebration of Festa Junina/Julina, when Middle School learners opened the party on Saturday, July 11th, with the Brazilian popular genre "repente" that included the following verses:

Essa tal de Covid não sai da minha cabeça E agora eu fico em casa, presa!

Batia saudade de dar um abraço, bem dado, em todos os meus chegados Não vejo meus amigos para não ficar doente, mas agora ficou tudo diferente!

Translation: This Covid one does not get off my head And now I stay home, stuck!

I was longing to give a hug, well given, in all my beloved ones I don't meet my friends so we don't get sick, but now everything is different!

Another highlight is the project of chronicles of the quarantine, which mixed Portuguese Language and Arts, as the learners in Grade 8 at Escola Concept São Paulo developed meaningful texts with their perceptions and learning about this moment.

"O que eu achava que conhecia virou um mistério. Deitar na minha cama me lembra de tudo o que eu não fui grata suficiente para amar" (Translation: "What I thought I knew became a mystery. Lying on my bed reminds me of everything I was not grateful enough to love") wrote Julia Montenegro.

Her classmate Mel Carvalho also shared her concern: "Como permitir-me que relaxe, sabendo que nem todos têm o privilégio de escolher o mesmo?"

(Translation: "How can I allow myself to relax, knowing that not everyone has the privilege of choosing the same?"

Fernando de Carvalho brought a more optimistic view, "Você pode achar felicidade nas horas mais difíceis, é só achar a luz" (Translation: "You can find happiness in the most difficult hours, just find the light") he reported, telling that this idea occurred to him in the middle of a board game with his family.

At a time when there are no answers and the news brings us even more uncertainty, seeing our students flowing in verses and personal stories can indeed be truly reassuring.

Once upon a time...

Retelling a classic story is a proposal that warms our hearts - and brings rich learning - at any age. For young children, it lights up their imagination, builds a repertoire, and opens up immense possibilities for them to perceive some characteristics of the text, illustration, sound, among others. For older students, it can provoke debates about morality, as well as the practice of reading and writing in different genres of language.

A recent Concept SĂŁo Paulo Grade 6 project had Fairy Tales as the starting point of their studies. The learners reread the stories and reinvented the characters and narratives, creating, for instance, the Little Purple Hiding Hood, The Good Wolf, and the Beautiful Swan. These productions were recorded with texts and illustrations, but it did not stop there. The students were challenged to record videos, telling their stories, which were assembled in an e-book. The initiative was greatly appreciated by early childhood educators, who are excited to share these storytelling opportunities with their learners.

Open a book, expand your world!

Reading is surely one of the best strategies for acquiring vocabulary, knowledge, and cultivating the imagination.

But there are some people who do not like to read because this is usually a solitary action, a fact that we redefined during this quarantine with the Book Study clubs. With optional participation and groups of students from Lower and Middle school divisions, they shared readings of books that discussed important topics for each age level. Students in grades 5-9, read Jerry Spinelli's book Stargirl, which features topics such as teenage love, insecurity, friendship, popularity, and peer pressure.

The reading concluded with the creation of a playlist on Spotify with songs that connect to the main themes of the book.

Grade 4 and 5 learners read a classic children novel, Charlotte's Web, Â by American author E. B. White.

They reflected about the power of friendship and kindness. Grade 2 and 3, on the other hand, ventured into the tales of Roald Dahl, The Fantastic Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox. For the Early Years children, there are also lots of optional moments of storytelling. "It has been great to see students committed to these learning opportunities beyond the curriculum," says Ana Carolina Erlacher, Lower and Middle School Principal at Escola Concept.

YCNEULF

LATIGID NO

How did the pandemic accelerate the digital fluency process?

Not too long ago, in January 2020, educators recorded a video to introduce themselves to the learners.

These videos were sent to families via email, after the initial pedagogical meeting that opened our school year.

For those who did not yet master all the editing resources available on the computers and iPads used at Concept, the Ed Tech team provided a quick professional development session. However, for many teachers, the difficulty was not technical, but being comfortable with their image in front of the camera.

Let's fast-forward 6 months and here we are: adults and children of all ages, easily interacting through a screen, navigating between folders, websites, and logins. The time when these actions were a technological barrier is long gone. Nowadays we visit museums, zoos and the farthest corners of the planet with one click. We read books on digital platforms and we have several new apps installed. We engage daily in learning, work, or conversation groups.

Have we become digitally fluent?

Yes, kind of. "The idea of fluency means precisely being able to use a language with autonomy," explains educator Aldo Marigonda, who teaches Design Thinking to children from Toddlers to Grade 1. "But the way we develop digital fluency at Concept focuses on using technology creatively to solve problems and challenges, not on knowing how to program or master the use of some resources. Therefore, the learning paths start with the exploration of blocks and physical materials, so children can develop logical and spacial intelligence. The paths gain gradual complexity with the use of new technological resources and the design thinking approach. Instead of a stepby-step plan, knowledge is guided by curiosity, and experimentation, in a creative spiral of construction, feedback, reflection, and again construction."

Physical distance only We live in challenging times, times of many uncertainties...

But we hope that the overall experience is positive for your family. For our school, we can say, with joy and gratitude, that isolation has brought great opportunities for us to come together as a community. From the children connecting with their families, the families connecting with the school, the learners with their groups, to the families with the educators, leaders, and dozens of speakers that were invited to participate in our conversation series in.MIND and Morning Bites.

And our reality shows, as Ana Tereza GaviĂŁo Mariotto, PhD in Psychology and Education, shared in one of the talks: "In this moment of distancing, we celebrate the social function of the school and the community building opportunities it provides."

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ESCOLA CONCEPT BRASIL